FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi

FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi is a local non-profit 501C3 supporting the Bayou Regional with volunteer, administrative, and accounting resources.

Our Mission

To inspire our youth to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, and develop the technical and non-technical skills necessary to be successful, while also transforming our culture into one in which STEM is celebrated.

Our Board

Under the guidance of our Board of Directors and Key Volunteers, FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi supports hundreds of FIRST robotics teams and dozens of competition and demonstration events each year. Please use the form below to contact any of these dedicated volunteers with your questions or comments.

Annette Oertling – President – FLL Affiliate Partner – Louisiana
Annette Oertling, Ph.D. is the president and a founding member of FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi, Inc. (formerly BLaST, Inc.), a non-profit organization responsible for bringing FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO® League (FLL) to Louisiana in 2003 and the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) to Louisiana and Mississippi in 2007. She is also Co-Director for the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair, serving grades 6-12 in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard parishes, and serves on the board of Core Element, a regional collaborative between K-12, higher education, economic development, and business and industry institutions that are committed to improving the caliber of math and science education through teacher training.

Since retiring from Tulane University as a Professor of Practice in the Bio-medical Engineering Department and Assistant Dean for K-12 Outreach for the School of Science and Engineering in 2013, Annette now serves as Adjunct Faculty assisting with K-12 outreach programs. Her degrees include a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.A.T. in Math. She worked eight years for Exxon Company, U.S.A. in the production department, two years for Louise McGehee High School teaching math and science and twelve years for Tulane University. She lives in New Orleans and is married with 2 children and 2 grandchildren.

Warren Cancienne – Vice President – Senior Judge Advisor – Louisiana
Warren Cancienne is a Senior Project Engineer in the Manufacturing Engineering Group at Intralox, LLC. He received his undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from the University of New Orleans and a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A & M University.

Aside from his Officer-ships on both the FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi and BLaST boards, Warren has been a highly valued FIRST event volunteer for over 10 years; serving as the Judge Advisor for the Louisiana FIRST LEGO League State Tournament since 2003, and Judge Advisor for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Bayou Regional since 2010. Warren has also been honored as a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus by the University of New Orleans.

Barbara Pailet – TreasurerBy vocation, Barbara Pailet is a teacher, but her passion is philanthropy. Professionally, she serves as the Executive Director of The Bruce J. Heim Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to helping young people to realize their full potential. Her personal time is invested in causes that directly impact people. Among her many community activities, she has a dedicated focus on FIRST. In 2004, in order to grow FIRST LEGO League (FLL) and FIRST in Louisiana, Barbara established a new non-profit organization, FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi, Inc. (formerly BLaST, Inc.) Through this entity, built with representatives from the business community, Universities, NASA and other non-profits, FLL and the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) have achieved enviable growth and made a positive impact on thousands of students.

Barbara has been the recipient of the New Orleans Jewish Federation’s Outstanding Young Leader Award, recognized as an Outstanding Young American Woman, was recognized by FIRST with an Outstanding Commitment Award for her work in Louisiana with FLL following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and was chosen as a 2015 Distinguished Service to Education Award winner by the Delta Chapter of the American Petroleum Institute Teacher Award Program. Currently, she is serving as President of Core Element, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing successful Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs to schools in the Greater New Orleans area. Barbara is married to Kenneth, a real life Barbie and Ken couple for 44 years! She has two daughters, one granddaughter and one grandson.

Michelle Hewlett Sanchez, Ph.D. – Secretary – FLL Affiliate Partner – LouisianaMichelle Hewlett Sanchez is a Professor of Practice and the Director for K-12 STEM Outreach in Tulane University’s School of Science and Engineering. She joined the Tulane faculty in the Physics and Engineering Department in August 2012. Michelle is a Tulane University graduate with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering and Mathematics and a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering. Michelle received the Ph.D. degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University in December 2011.

Her goal as the Director for K-12 STEM Outreach for the School of Science and Engineering is to match the resources at Tulane with partnerships in the community promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education for grades K–12. She works with the Center for Public Service at Tulane developing Service Learning courses and Service Internship opportunities for students in science and engineering.

She also coordinates the Tulane Science Scholars Program, which brings exceptional 10th–12th grade students to Tulane for for-credit summer classes with Tulane faculty. Students can earn college credit before high school graduation while having the option to stay on campus. In addition, she coordinates the Girls in STEM at Tulane program and Boys in STEM at Tulane program, which brings 5th–8th grade students to campus to meet and work with role models in STEM fields by doing hands-on activities.

Michelle also serves as Co-Director for the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair; open to 6th–12th grade students in a four-parish area who have placed in their school science and engineering fairs. Additionally, she helps coordinate the FIRST LEGO League (FLL, elementary/middle-school robotics) and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC, high-school) events held in New Orleans.

She serves on the board of Core Element, which is a non-profit organization bringing STEM programs to schools in the Greater New Orleans area by training teachers and equipping them with hands-on, inquiry-based kits to be used in the classroom. Finally, she serves on the board of the New Orleans Charter Science & Mathematics High School.

Carolyn Arthurs – Board Member – FIRST Regional Director – Louisiana/Mississippi
Each Regional robotics competition has a director, who is responsible for fundraising, team recruitment and team support. The Regional Director (RD) also acts as liaison between FIRST Headquarters and the Regional Planning Committee, and as the Director of the Regional Event. In this position, the FIRST Regional Director for Louisiana and Mississippi teams throughout the year.

Carolyn Arthurs has held the position of Regional Director since 2012. Based in New Orleans, Louisiana, her expertise as a Regional Event Manager, since the year 2000 through Show Ready Events has given her experience running over 100 regional events throughout the country. In addition to her position as Regional Director of the Bayou Regional, Carolyn is also the owner of All About Events, a New Orleans based Social Event Company.

Carol Cancienne – Board Member
Bio Coming Soon.

Kevin McKone – Board Member – Senior Mentor – Mississippi

Kevin McKone is currently a physics instructor and division chair at Copiah-Lincoln Community College (Co-Lin) in Wesson, MS. He has been teaching general physics, engineering physics, engineering statics, engineering dynamics, along with astronomy and physical science at Co-Lin for the last 18 years. Before teaching at Co-Lin, McKone was a physical scientist at NAVOCEANO in Stennis, MS. McKone received his B.S. in physics from Colorado State University, and his Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, studying the seasonal signal in the Gulf Stream. His post-doctoral research at LSU looked into Loop Current eddies, and the physical forcing of topographic Rossby waves along the Sigsbee Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico. He is currently a senior mentor with FIRST, and mentor to the Co-Lin underwater robotics team, the Seawolves. Kevin lives in Bogue Chitto, MS with his wife Kathy, a retired chemistry and biomedical research teacher. His son Noah is finishing his senior year at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, and his daughter Haley is a nutritionist with the State of Mississippi. McKone can be contacted at kevin.mckone@colin.edu.

Eddie Melton – Board Member – Jr.FLL and FLL Affiliate Partner – MississippiEddie Melton is an Operations Research Analyst at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, MS. Eddie’s main research focus involves the development, testing, and simulation of remote sensor systems for military and environmental applications. He is currently involved in numerous studies involving the characterization of signals in complex background environments through the use of thermal infrared, visible light, acoustic, and seismic sensors. Eddie has been awarded two patents for his work in hydroacoustic signal processing techniques for detecting submersed aquatic vegetation and using video-based imagery for automated detection and tracking of moving objects.

Eddie’s extensive volunteer efforts include serving as the FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. and FIRST® LEGO® League Affiliate Partner for Mississippi since 2014, a Judge Advisor for FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) events, a FIRST Technical Advisor (FTA) for FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) events since 2012, and as a mentor of the multi-award winning Siege Robotics FRC team 456 for over 10 years (2006).

Presented By

Support FIRST Louisiana-Mississippi!

This Isn’t a Robot

Wondering what we mean when we say FIRST is #morethanrobots? Watch this video (courtesy of RadicalMedia).

During the competition, you can watch live here!

Through special arrangement with FUN (First Updates Now), with technical support provided by YouthRobotics.com, this year’s FRC Bayou Regional competition rounds will be webcast live at: https://www.twitch.tv/firstupdatesnow. Visit the Twitch link now to subscribe and you’ll receive an email reminder when we go live!